Andraya Yearwood, a 17-year-old junior at Cromwell High School, is one of two transgender high school sprinters in Connecticut, transitioning to female and competing at a high level in track and field.

Yearwood came in at second in the 55-meter dash at the state open indoor track championships. The winner, Terry Miller of Bloomfield High, is the other transgender who set a meet record of 6.95 seconds.

The third-place competitor, who is not transgender, finished in 7.23 seconds.

Yearwood spoke with the Washington Times and the negativity she hears all the time:

“I have learned a lot about myself and about other people through this transition. I always try to focus most on all of the positive encouragement that I have received from family, friends and supporters,” Yearwood said. “I use the negativity to fuel myself to run faster.”